Broken Touchscreen...Can I get my contacts off of the phone??

[iguanafly]

My Pre finally took it's last nose dive onto the floor yesterday and has completely given up on me. The touchscreen is now dead and I have figured out how to get it to the USB drive so I got the pictures off. I bought the HTC Hero as my replacement. My worry now is the contacts. The Sprint store tried, but couldn't do it. No, I haven't backed anything up or have a Google account. Anyone know a way to find them online or be able to get that file onto my computer? I don't care if I have re-enter them by hand one by one, just as long as I can get them.

[LilTmac2003]

Originally Posted by iguanafly

...No, I haven't backed anything up or have a Google account...

Purposely?

[ineeld]

I had the exact same issue awhile back. When I went to sprint store I couldn't get the pre into usb mode. Sprint store told me if I could get it into usb mode they could get the contacts, so If I were you, I would try that again....Also, I was curious if Palm Tech Support had a solution by now. I did an online chat and this is the convo. Turns out, if you complain enough they give you a code for free Palm voice support that would usually cost $14.99 per issue. It's worth reading all the way through to get a better understanding of how our synced contacts through palm are handled. Hope this helps.

1:05 AM Russel: I understand that the device is cracked and you wish to get the Contacts data out of the device. Am I correct?
1:05 AM Ian: yes
1:05 AM Russel: The model of the device you are using is Palm Pre. Am I Correct?
1:05 AM Ian: yes
1:06 AM Russel: The device data will be Synced on to the Palm Profile from the device every day.
1:06 AM Russel: You can get replacement for the device and when you sign in to your Palm Profile, the data gets restored in to the new replacement device.
1:07 AM Ian: i am aware of that but I will be switching to a different handset other than a palm device
1:07 AM Ian: so how do i get all the contact info from palm that was synced
1:08 AM Russel: To which account did you Sync the Palm device data?
1:08 AM Russel: I mean to know if you have Synced the data on to the Palm Profile or on to the Google.
1:09 AM Ian: palm
1:09 AM Ian: all the contacts are on the palm profile
1:09 AM Russel: We cannot get the Palm Profile data on to another manufacture devices.
1:10 AM Russel: You can restore the Palm Profile data either on to Palm Pre or on to the Palm Pixi.
1:11 AM Ian: so there is no other way to get my contacts that were synced to palm that i input into my phone, if i don't get another palm device!?
1:11 AM Russel: Palm Profile is secured and cannot be accessed by another devices.
1:11 AM Russel: We can only get the data of the Palm Profiles data on to the Web OS devices.
1:12 AM Russel: And Palm Pre and the Palm Pixi are the only Web OS devices.
1:13 AM Ian: can it be emailed to me or mailed. All the contact info on my phone is very important and I MUST get it off of the phone, there HAS to be a way!?
1:13 AM Russel: I am sorry. This is not possible to Email the Contacts data.
1:14 AM Ian: can I view it online by securely logging into my palm profile?
1:14 AM Russel: The Contacts data which are in the device will be backed up on to the Palm Profile and we cannot access the Palm Profile from the computer or any other manufacturer devices.
1:14 AM Russel: No, you cannot access the data of the Palm Profile.
1:14 AM Russel: How did the device screen get damaged?
1:15 AM Ian: dropped
1:15 AM Russel: When did you purchase the device?
1:15 AM Ian: i can access it via the data cable still, is there anyway to get my contacts through the data cable
1:16 AM Russel: You cannot access the device Contacts, Calendar data when the device is connected to the computer via USB.
1:17 AM Russel: I can understand your concern.
1:17 AM Russel: I will provide you the contact details to get in touch with the Palm Voice support.
1:18 AM Ian: my word, palm makes it impossible to get at my contacts if the screen is broken and I want to go to a different phone! i'm sure you have run into this issue with other customers and there has to be a solution?
1:18 AM Ian: what can palm voice support do for me that you cannot?
1:20 AM Russel: Honestly, we cannot access the Palm Profile on the computer and cannot get the Palm Profile data on to a computer or on to any other device.
1:20 AM Russel: But, their is work around.
1:20 AM Ian: ok, great
1:21 AM Ian: i would love to know what that work around is
1:21 AM Russel: Contact the Sprint stores and they will login to your profile from their device and get the data on to the Palm Pre and then you can Sync the data on to the Google.
1:21 AM Russel: Then you can get the data on to the Outlook from the Google and then you can Sync the data on to any other device.
1:21 AM Russel: I am sure you can get this done in a Sprint store.
1:22 AM Ian: i went into the sprint store and they told me they couldn't do anything to help me, that is why I contacted you
1:23 AM Russel: Then you need to have a Web OS device to restore the Palm Profile data.
1:24 AM Russel: This is the only possible way to restore the data of the Palm Profile.
1:24 AM Ian: ok
1:25 AM Russel: If you can contact the Voice Support, you can get a replacement device if you wish to get your device repaired.
1:25 AM Russel: Then you can restore the Palm profile data on to the new replacement.
1:25 AM Russel: This is the only way to restore the Palm Profile data.
1:25 AM Ian: ok, thank you for your attempt to fix my issue, I appreciate your advice
1:26 AM Russel: Shall I provide you the contact details to get in touch with the Palm Voice Support?
1:26 AM Russel: I will arrange a free call for you.
1:26 AM Russel: Please make a note of the Chat Session ID:*Removed*. You can use this session ID when ever you contact the chat support further clarifications. We can track the previous chat session using this session ID.
1:27 AM Russel: You can contact our Phone Support Team at your most convenient time. This team can be reached at: 877-426-3777 between 6:00 AM PST to 8:00 PM PST on all Week days and 8:00 AM PST to 5:00 PM PST on weekends.
1:27 AM Russel: Please call to the Voice Support and provide the chat session ID. They will assist you further with the issue. This would be a free call.

[migass]

I'm in the EXACT!!! situation as you are. My pre broke and I got the hero. What did you do to recover your contacts?

[postalUT]

Sprint Stores have a way of pulling off contacts from the Pre but only if you can get at the touchscreen to activate bluetooth.

Try this: See if your sprint store will hard reset their demo pre, or perhaps any pre's or pixi's they have in the back being sent back to the manufacturer. Sign into your Palm Profile. Then have them use the Cellebrite machine to transfer contacts from your borrowed Palm to your Hero.

AND START BACKING UP FROM NOW ON!!!!!!!!

[burgertime]

Ughh...my Pre took a hard fall today and the touch screen went bye bye. I have insurance thank goodness. But I wish I could of held on till the Evo came out.

[jorgesicas]

all great tips... i will keep that i mind if i run into any issues like this one. but wouldn't it be best to sync them into a more accesible server such as Google contacts?

[noco37]

Originally Posted by jorgesicas

all great tips... i will keep that i mind if i run into any issues like this one. but wouldn't it be best to sync them into a more accesible server such as Google contacts?

That is a good start. You should start off by syncing the phone to your email host (exchange, google, whatever.... pick your poison) and then back that up to your desktop.

That way you have 3 copies phone, desktop and server/cloud/email host.

[Cantaffordit]

would it be different if you got another Pre? If so, have them grab a Pre to transfer the contacts to a healthy device and then back it up.

[jhp]

Try the emulator, I'm pretty sure that I was able to use it to get my contacts on my home system. I just tried it on 2 of my work systems, but the company firewalls are not cooperating and I can't get to the profile servers so I can't verify this at the moment.

[hisserbea]

Originally Posted by jhp

Try the emulator, I'm pretty sure that I was able to use it to get my contacts on my home system. I just tried it on 2 of my work systems, but the company firewalls are not cooperating and I can't get to the profile servers so I can't verify this at the moment.

What emulator do you mean? Can you provide a link? Silly me didn't realize that having all your information on the palm profile doesn't mean it's backed up.

[cglaguna]

My power seat ran over the face of mine. Display worked but touchscreen did not. A friend of mine who is brilliant, got into mine and removed all the info, pics, music... It is something like ftp into the phone. There has to be instructions here. I will see if he recorded what he did.

[soko88]

hey i have the same problem here my contract ran out 3 days ago i went to unplug my phone and the screen was cracked no clue why probley my dog chewing on it i need to get my contacts off it is there a way to get them off the phone and onto my desktop are no>?

[Cantaffordit]

are they syncing to google or your palm profile???

[soko88]

idk i have no clue how todo so explain please plus i have no screen i cant se anying on it

[bneuman]

Unfortunately I haven't been able to find the contacts, but you might be able to get access to files, emails, pics, and some other stuff by using rsync:

EDIT: apparently I can't post a link, so do a google search for "webos backing up via rsync" and you should be able to find it.

This requires the novaterm program from the Pre SDK (follow links from that page) and you need to be in developer mode, which might be the tricky part if your screen was broken. Mine broke yesterday and I was able to use this to backup all my photos and music. You might be able to enable developer mode without the touchscreen, not sure.

I looked through all of the files and there doesn't seem to be any plaintext contact stuff stored there, but it might be hidden in there somewhere. Next I'm going to work on getting the contacts synced through the emulator provided with the WebOS SDK but that doesn't look promising.

Good Luck!

[bneuman]

I found a way to get contacts! If you manage to get rsync working, you can follow another guide to use sqlite3 to extract contacts from a database (they aren't listed in plaintext which is why I didn't find them before).

My database file was located in /var/luna/data/dbdata/PalmDatabase.db3

Try following this guide, it provides a perl script (which I haven't tried yet) that supposedly can export the contacts to a format google can read.

To find the guide, search google for:
webos PalmDatabase.db3 File

(not being able to post links is a serious pain)

Using this I was able to see all of my contacts and get the number I needed!

I love how hackable this phone is.

[Cantaffordit]

Originally Posted by soko88

idk i have no clue how todo so explain please plus i have no screen i cant se anying on it

I was asking what service you synced your contacts to before it broke. Were you just using your Palm profile, or where you syncing with gmail, yahoo, etc...

If you were syncing your contacts to a cloud service, you can get to them with a web browser. If you put them all in your Palm profile, you will have to hope the suggestions above work, because there is no way to get access to the contents of your Palm profile from the web, which is a major item that Palm needs to add...

I hope you get your contacts!

[midmofan]

Try heading to a Best Buy that has a full service Mobile department. They have a great device that can pull off stuff off of almost any device they sell including the Pre. Never a guarantee, but worth a try.

Even our Sprint Tech/repair center here does not have one of these and Sprint directs people in our area to BBy.

[redtwelve]

I dont know if you have tried this I couldn't be bothered reading all the previous posts but I am currently in the same boat as you were, basically if you can see the screen you can type contacts names and their contact info will come up and then you can go ahead and do it the old fashioned way by hand! hope this helps my screen is broken but i can still see whats on it at least!